Beginings
by CrazyAndInsane
Summary: Frankly Ari Hawke was having a rather bad WEEK as it was; first the Blight happened and she and her family had to flee from their farm in Lothering, then her sister in a bid to save her own magic in a petty move strips Ari of her magic. See full inside.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Beginning's

Author: CrazyAndInsane - You can call me Jeanie

Pairings: Unknown as of yet, mostly friendships and rivalry's and the like. I don't want to throw sex in just yet; maybe in Part two of my Trilogy but the pairings are up in the air as it is of now.

Summary: Frankly Ari Hawke was having a rather bad WEEK as it was; first the Blight happened and she and her family had to flee from their farm in Lothering, then her sister in a bid to save her own magic in a petty move strips Ari of her magic – who had foolish traded it so she wouldn't become a Gray Warden. After that she and her younger brother Carver, her now extremely over-protective, prickly, cranky brother, were left on the shores of Amaranthine and across the sea from Kirkwall and the Free-Marshes.

Then, get this, once she's there her own _mother_ sells her and Carver into slavery for a year in a bid to get the family – namely her and Bethany into the city safely – and this is after Ari arrives in Kirkwall weeks behind them. Now Hawke has to contend with cranky and irritable brothers, a batshit _insane_ best-friend, a brooding hunk with Daddy-issues and one loud little Dwarf who thinks Ari should go back to the kitchen like a good little woman.

Frankly Hawke was wondering where this Andrastate's-given patience was coming from and whether or not it would be rude or blasphemous if she asked for some gold instead – the Deep Roads wasn't going to pay for its self you know!

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Age, I or II or Awakenings, nor do I own Bioware. I will not be making any money off of this as this is strictly for personal entertainment value only – mine and anyone else who wants to read this for free – and outside of plot lines I've toyed with it all doesn't belong to me.

O~O~O~O~O O~O~O~O~O O~O~O~O~O O~O~O~O~O O~O~O~O~O

9:30 Dragon, 19 Molioris

Lothering, Fereldin, Thedas

Ari was panting harshly as she ripped up her chambers wooden floor-boards in search of the few precious items she had left of her father as the Darkspawn traveled closer and closer to Lothering, she could _feel_ the taint spreading and growing as it crept through the Wilds towards her home and her family farm. She knew that instead of scrambling around and shoving old, _ancient_, magic books into her bag to take with her she should be throwing in food to eat and that she should be taking advantage of the fact that she could rest for a few hours. But Ari wanted her father's things and she wasn't going to leave them behind for some _Darkspawn_ to touch with their disgusting, foul hands.

Shoving the last of the slim books into her bag Ari climbed back to her feet and looked around the small attic room that had been hers for close to two decades, she couldn't take much with her and whatever she brought had to be valuable indeed as to take up such room in her bag when they needed all the room. She rubbed her fingers together before reaching for her camp-bag, her original one was still somewhere in Ostager and this had been a back-up one in case she lost or couldn't find hers before she and Carver had left under Ser Hudson. It wasn't much, just basic supplies for a one-person camp but it did include flint and water-proof skins to make a fire and a, relativity depending on weather and wind, weather-proof tent to sleep in out of the elements.

Still it was better than nothing.

"Ari," Carver shouted from the first floor. "What in Maker's name are you doing!"

"Hold on!" Ari shouted as she shoved her small bag into her camping back-pack, she adjusted the straps as she shrugged it on as she stepped towards the door. She paused on the open threshold briefly before turning back to her small writing-desk; she gently traced the rune _Vroth _into the seemingly locked drawer with her magic humming through her body as she stripped her specially made lock that Ari used to keep some of her more personal things hidden from sight. A small _snick_ sounded and she eagerly ripped open the drawer and pulled out the small pouch of gold, as she shoved the pouch in between her skin and breast-armor the coins inside jingled softly.

Stealing was a terrible thing in the Maker's eyes but thieving from Templars...well even He would understand that and they were such foolish men anyway to be getting that pissed in a tavern where they _knew_ Witches attended to. Something Ari didn't really believe since she had been the only mage in Lothering since they moved here when she was but a child of four and mage's could always sense one another – or at least Ari could anyway – and she had never sensed another mage in the past eighteen years.

"Ari!"

"Coming!" Ari shouted down the flight of stairs as she rushed down from her high perch in the windmill. "I'm coming! Don't get your knickers in a twist!"

"Ari Amell!" Leandra shouted back up at her daughter as Bethany, her beautiful Bethany, waited impatiently next to her. "Watch your language young lady!"

"Yes Mother!" Ari rolled her eyes at Carver as she grabbed her cloak from him and swung it over her shoulders, it settled easily over the back-pack she was carrying. She pulled the hood over her long braided hair, the black locks bleeding in with the black of hood threads. "Come along Craver, we need to hurry."

"Yes, Ari," Bethany sneered as her two siblings stepped outside. "Please do watch your language around my delicate ears. I'm not a tavern wrench like you and can handle such coarseness of the simple minded."

"Shut up Beth," Carver snapped as he drew his own cloak on. "You're a spoiled brat is what you are."

Bethany only sniffed before turning away when her Mother cleared her throat for attention between the two twins. Carver always sided with Ari, it didn't matter what it was and it could be something incredibly silly and he still would side with _her_ over Bethany and it was simply not fair - she was _his_ twin! He should be siding with her and making sure she was happy!

"Stop it you two," Leandra hissed as she drew on her own traveling pack similar in size to Bethany's which meant it was bulging in unnecessary ways with things they did not need. "And Ari please stop aggravating your sister."

"Dad should have stopped after you," Ari muttered to Carver as the edged their way out from around Lothering, they did not want to draw attention to themselves for bandits and thieves to attack them. "We didn't need Beth."

"Well if you give birth to one twin you have to give birth to the other one." Carved replied back morbidly. He did not like his twin sister at all. "Are you sure you're still the oldest one?"

"I was there when you were born," Ari smiled with a quick up-turn of lips. "Trust me, I'm the oldest."

Carver sighed unhappily as he stepped around a large burnt tree-trunk and to edge his way into the front of the group of four, he trusted Ari to watch the back of them but that meant he was needed up front and they couldn't talk anymore which was disappointing in a fashion since he didn't want to listen to his Mother harp on him or listen to his twin bitch about Ari being a bitchy-nug. And yeah, Carver could agree with Bethany, Ari could be a bit controlling but he knew that Ari needed that control if she didn't wish to burn the house down around their ears the first time she got _irritated_ with them. He also could understand why Bethany didn't like it when Ari went out on her little "trips" and came back with some silvers for "work" – but Carver wasn't going to tell Bethany and Leandra that Ari was actually stealing from Templar's and killing bandits that wondered the forests around Lothering.

He actually loved his older sister more than his own twin.

But when she showed up at Ostager as a "recruit" he had been pissed since this had been his chance to show that while he wasn't the farmer like his mother or the hunter like his eldest sister - he was a damn good soldier. He had drew Ari off to the side latter that night and was prepared to throw a fit of epic proportions when Ari hissed at him that King Cailan was offering coin for any able-body Fereldin to do battle at Ostager – and they didn't have to stay enlisted after. Carver had only sighed but backed off, the family needed the money but he still worried that Ari would show him up and the fact the whole ruin was swarming with Templar's – it only took one slip here and Ari was hanging or locked away back in a Circle somewhere. And as much as his eldest sister aggravated and amused him by equal measure he still loved her and wanted her safe from everything in the world.

What few memories he had of their father were vague but he could still remember Malcolm Hawke telling him shortly before his death that it was Carver's job to protect his sisters. And Carver was going to do just that – even if it meant taking on one of the Old Ones to make sure they were protected.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O

"Please, we need to rest." Bethany panted several hours later. Both Ari and Carver had been setting a punishing pace to get them as far away as possible from Lothering not to mention they were going up and over a _mountain_ of all things and Bethany was sick and tired of it. She really was. "Mother's tired.

Mother in fact did not look or seem all that tired and was obviously able to keep walking but, Ari and Carver knew this by experience, that whatever Bethany wanted she got. They only nodded unhappily at their mother's warning look to abide by Bethany's wishes before they both spread out along the small clearing along the rocky-path they were taking for any Darkspawn. Ari felt that they were safe for the moment, something was slowing them down as they approached Lothering so that meant they still had time and with all the pretty magical-traps she had weaved together along the mad dash away from their home it would hopefully slow them down even further.

"I don't like this," Carver muttered to Ari. "Something doesn't feel right. We should have seen at least a few Darkspawn by now, I haven't seen any tracks either."

"I know," Ari replied back. "I can sense the main bulk of the Horde spawning around Ostager and slowly moving their way to Lothering but there has to be scouting parties of some kind, I can _feel_ those but it is...blank around this area for whatever reason and I can't feel any for miles around. I don't dare try and cast-out any farther without having an Emissary take notice."

"Aren't you two done resting yet?" Bethany demanded as she eyed the two black-haired siblings with suspicion. "In-case you haven't noticed you're slowing us down and I would rather not be a snack for some _creature_ wallowing in the shadows."

"Slowing-slowing us _down_?" Carver shouted and thrust a finger at Bethany. "_We're_ not the ones that wanted a break!"

"Oh do _not_ turn this back on me!" Bethany crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Carver. "If you two hadn't taken your time in getting back to Lothering from Ostager we could have left sooner!"

That was a low blow.

"That is-I cannot-" Ari sputtered as her magic snapped silently around her in reaction to her rage. "We _ran_ non-stop since the battle to get home; we didn't even rest once we were there to warn everybody and moving with you and Mother! How dare you-"

"Stop it, all of you!" Leandra snapped at her three children. "We cannot have this, not now."

"Of course Mother," Bethany said as Carver and Ari nodded in agreement. "Whatever you say."

"Good. We need to get moving," Leandra said. "I think we should head to Kirkwall."

"What?" Bethany gapped at her mother. "You cannot be serious Mother. Do you know how far away Kirkwall is?"

"Mother, Kirkwall is at least a two months journey on foot to Amaranthine and then a fortnight by ship to the Free-Marshes! We simply couldn't make it on our own even if we didn't have the Blight crawling and snapping at us!"

Ari stayed out of the argument that was starting between the three members of her family as she watched for Darkspawn, it wasn't much to have her magic cast-out around the make-shift rest-site like a drag net ready to catch prey – and an early warning system for Ari in-case of Darkspawn. There was…something at the edge of her magic, teasing it. It, whatever _it_ was, wasn't a Darkspawn or any other kind of magical creature but it was old and powerful and so full of magic it made Ari's teeth ache from the force of it. It also unnerved her enough that she wanted to get a move on and _away_ from such dangerous magic and she cut into the shouting match.

"Enough! In-case all of you have forgotten we have Darkspawn crawling up our arse's and I do _not_ want them to catch me while my trousers are down so-to-speak." Ari snapped and all three fell quiet. "We can't stay here and I want to keep us all alive so we need to move and keep moving – understand?"

"Of course Ari," Leandra nodded. "And once we are safe from the Blight, Denerium would do us well; we can take stock and head towards Kirkwall after that. I'm sure Gamlen would have no problem at all sending us some silvers for the trip home."

Home.

Carver hated that word since his father died. Ever since then their mother went on about Kirkwall and the famed Amell's, how wealthy they were and how many _titles_ they had, it sickened him sometimes when he thought about the early days after their father died how their mother would either re-treat into her bedroom or start lecturing all three siblings about the famous Amell family history. If it hadn't been Ari showing him how to take care of the fields or how to skin a rabbit for dinner they would all have starved that winter, it didn't help that Bethany refused to help and spent most of her time with Leandra dreaming of Kirkwall or locked in her room playing _Lady_ Bethany.

Home wasn't Kirkwall or the Free-Marshes, or the Amell Estates. Home was freshly turned dirt and simmering stews and magical-sparks as his sisters practiced in the barn behind their home. Home was heading to the Tavern and watching as Ari snatched purses of sloshed Templar's after luring them in with doctored wine, home was cleaning up after Bethany's hopeless romances that always seemed to change from day-to-day. Home was shining suns and clear night-skies, balmy breezes and icy-cold showers that bathed the earth; it was baking bread and gleaming swords in front of a fire.

Kirkwall didn't have those things and it never would, no matter what his mother and Bethany thought or hoped to find there.

"And then do what?" Bethany sneered. "Lothering is gone as well as any valuables we might have used for trade, I do not trust this uncle of ours – in all the years you have talked of him and his letters has he ever sent coin when the drought occurred several years ago to help the family get through – we might as well as set up shop here and deal with the Blight ourselves."

"Whether or not we go to Kirkwall doesn't matter." Ari interrupted the seemingly building argument that didn't seem to stop. "We need to move and move now."

With not much else to be said the small group of four gathered up their small back-packs and cloaks and set out once again, this time though Ari and Carver both kept an eye on their surrounds. Both could feel a powerful set of eyes watching them and assumed it was Darkspawn, which they would not have been far off in any-case but while Ari only sensed _something_ Carver felt someone so eerily similar to his older sister but they were…off somehow, darker and _dirtier_ if Carver could call it that. Whatever it was Carver wanted no part of it and vowed to stay away as much as possible if it should decide to follow him and he led it back to his both magically inclined sisters.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O

TBC

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O

AN: Okay, I noticed some mistakes I made in grammer and spelling so I fixed that up. I also noticed that I hadn't put in a disclaimer and did so, as well as the full summary. I will most likely not up-date this again until after the New Year, RL is going to keep me busy for the rest of the month so I though my readers deserved a warning about expecting an up-date. But after that everything should even out just right and move on a more regular pace for both this story and a few others I have been working on during this past Fall term.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Beginning's

Author: CrazyAndInsane

Pairings: Unknown as of yet, mostly friendships and rivalry's and the like. I don't want to throw sex in just yet; maybe in Part two of my Trilogy but the pairings are up in the air as it is of now.

Summary: Frankly Ari Hawke was having a rather bad WEEK as it was; first the Blight happened and she and her family had to flee from their farm in Lothering, then her sister in a bid to save her own magic in a petty move strips Ari of her magic – who had foolish traded it so she wouldn't become a Gray Warden. After that she and her younger brother Carver, her now extremely over-protective, prickly, cranky brother, were left on the shores of Amaranthine and across the sea from Kirkwall and the Free-Marshes.

Then, get this, once she's there her own _mother_ sells her and Carver into slavery for a year in a bid to get the family – namely her and Bethany into the city safely – and this is after Ari arrives in Kirkwall weeks behind them. Now Hawke has to contend with cranky and irritable brothers, a batshit _insane_ best-friend, a brooding hunk with Daddy-issues and one loud little Dwarf who thinks Ari should go back to the kitchen like a good little woman.

Frankly Hawke was wondering where this Andrastate's-given patience was coming from and whether or not it would be rude or blasphemous if she asked for some gold instead – the Deep Roads wasn't going to pay for its self you know!

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Age, I or II or Awakenings, nor do I own Bioware. I will not be making any money off of this as this is strictly for personal entertainment value only – mine and anyone else who wants to read this for free – and outside of plot lines I've toyed with it all doesn't belong to me.

**O~O~O~O~O O~O~O~O~O O~O~O~O~O O~O~O~O~O O~O~O~O~O**

**Wilds Boundary, Fereldin**

**9:30 Dragon, 29 September, Afternoon**

"The Maker does have a sense of humor doesn't he?" Bethany sneered as she eyed the Templar. She was sure; _almost_ sure, that she could kill the Mage-Hunter before her sister knew what was happening and stopped her. "The Blight and now this!"

"Knock it off Bethany," Ari warned her sister and also eyed the Templar and his Wife but not for the same reasons. The Templar...the Taint from Darkspawn was spawning inside of him, it was small now but soon they would have to kill him or exile him away from his Wife. "Now is not the time."

"Wise girl," Aveline, the Guards-woman, nodded in approval. "I thank you for your timely arrival, without it..."

"Not a worry, we were moving in this direction anyway." Ari pushed her short-sword back into its sheath along her back, blade gleaming between the black-blood and the blood-red stone's glowed with an inner-light at the pummel. "Ari Hawke and this is Bethany, Carver and Leandra Amell from Lothering."

"Traveling in groups is a smart thing to do."

"Yes," Carver would be having words with his sister about taking their father's name. "And two more would help in getting ahead of the blasted Blight."

"Only one I'm afraid." Aveline nodded at her husband. "Broken arm early yesterday only reason why we would have needed help you see."

Carver and Ari doubted that but wouldn't say anything else otherwise; they did not need to have Templar's following them once they were safe from the Blight wherever that might be. Ari might have been able to fight off Templar's and hide herself somewhere as a common citizen or live in the wilds but Bethany couldn't do that, couldn't restrain herself from using her magic multiple times a day. She used it to heat bath-water, lit the hearths, mend clothing and the like instead of doing it by hand like Ari did.

In fact Carver had thought that Bethany would have done well in the Circle outside of her sense of entitlement and the stifling the Tower would have caused for her.

"Well," Ari began as she unrolled a map of Fereldin she had packed; it paid off to have a well-equipped camp-pack, and traced the path she and Carver took from Ostager. "Everything south of Ostager is gone, depending on Lothering we can't loop up and around to the west and the east...?"

"Already overrun Mage," Wesley nodded to the head Apostate, she was most likely the other female's teacher. As a Templar Wesley could tell how powerful a Mage was and this one was incredible powerful, at least First Enchanter level from what he could sense. Why she would be teaching a school-girl with hardly any power he didn't know but perhaps it was because she needed a place to stay or the brother played a key factor. Wesley didn't know and didn't really care. "That's the way we came after meeting in the Wilds."

"North is the way we have to go," Ari let her finger trace over the drawings of mountains around them. "It will be tough going before we hit the Plains; with Darkspawn...I do not know. Redcliff seems a good place to head."

"No," Leandra said clearly. "We got to Amaranthine and their Port to Kirkwall. I will not go anywhere else."

Thanks Mother, Ari thought with frustration, for telling the Templar and Wife where we're going. It's not like two of your children are Apostate Mage's and a Templar has full rights regardless if the Blight is going on to bring them in or behead them. "Yes, I can understand that but we need to get out of the reach of Darkspawn for a while regardless where we are all going."

"What about over these mountains?" Wesley pointed at a small section of the mountains. "It's a pass and should shave off a couple of weeks if we get there before the Darkspawn."

"True," Ari admitted as she mentally scouted the route out in her mind. "But the large empty-space –here – it's a pocket of the Wilds. Which normally has a few scouting parties of Darkspawn but with the Blight...there might be more than normal, maybe a small brigade or two."

"It will be a risk we have to take Ari," Carver said softly. "We can't...there is simply no-way for us to travel as slowly as we have been through or around or over these mountains. Yes, it was a good idea since it also slows the Darkspawn down but we'll never make it before..."

Ari swallowed as she rolled the large map back up expertly and nodded. "Through the pass and Wilds it is."

**O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O**

**Wilds Boundary, Fereldin**

**9:30 Dragon, 2 October, Dusk**

"Argh," Carver grumbled as he kicked off a lump of...flesh of a Darkspawn on the toe of his boots. "Ari you need better aim."

"You told me to kill it now and I did so," Ari countered as she bent down to search through disgusting robes of the fallen Horror. "Just don't expect it to be all nice and neat for Andrastate's sake!"

Carver only huffed lightly as he helped his sister strip the bodies of valuables while Aveline and Bethany watched their backs; Wesley was scouting ahead as much as he could at any rate. They all knew it was going to take an extreme amount of money to take them all to Amaranthine and then the Amell-Hawke family to Kirkwall and this was the easiest way to gather coin as quick as possible. If Ari was deciding not to come forward with her own pouch of coin totaling nearly ten sovereigns it wasn't because she was being the only selfish one. She could see Carver keeping some coin for himself and Aveline was keeping any jewels they had found.

Bethany refused to touch the creatures and mostly kept Wesley and her Mother company.

"Let's set up camp for the night," Carver decided with a look at the dusking sky. "We have maybe a few more hours left before we arrive at the pass but I would rather cover it during the day where I can see my enemies coming."

"Logical of you," Aveline said. "I'll help. Hawke, if you could be so kind, as to tract down my errant husband?"

"Certainly." Ari nodded her head as she stood up, a slim and tattered book tucked under an arm and out of sight. She didn't recognize the language involved but it was familiar in the spacing of what were obviously sentences; Ari wouldn't mind spending some time translating it in her free-time. "I don't mind Aveline."

Ari turned on her heel and marched off, the silly little Templar actually wasn't that far off and only around the bend up ahead. The Taint inside of him was growing fast enough that over the past three days of travel it had nearly consumed him, if something wasn't done tonight Ari feared he wouldn't survive or go utterly insane. Lyrium-colored eyes took in the sad scene as she rounded the corner and out of sight of the rest of their group, the Templar was resting along an outcrop of craggy rocks. The sad thing was he was turning a slim dagger over and over in his hands; it seemed he too realized what had to be done.

"So," Ari began as she approached him. "You do realize what has happened correct?"

"Yes, I thought-at first-well no matter now." Wesley bitterly said as he eyed the gleaming knife. "I don't want to burden Aveline with this and I won't ask you to. I simple ask that you allow me a mere five minutes before going back to camp to alert them to my...body."

Ari nodded silently and, on a whim, reached out with her magic to brush up against the grim man. She wasn't exactly sure how she could help him but the Templar had been kind to her despite the fact she was an Apostate Mage, if Ari could help him she would. There wasn't...much Ari could do as she examined the Templar curiously but the Taint was sort of a magical infection after a fashion - if Ari was correct in her estimate - and if she used her own magic like an anti-poison she could very easily get rid of the Taint. But…Ari wasn't exactly sure if the Templar had enough time left or would even live.

"I can help you," Ari quietly said and Wesley looked up wearily. "The Taint...it is nothing more than a magical infection at its base core. Magic theoretically could "cure" you of the Taint like one would a blood-infection or poison."

"I...the risks?" Wesley asked as he still shoved his hope down, he would not allow that to come about, he didn't dare and it turned out right that he shouldn't have hoped in the first place. "I won't..."

The Apostate hesitated and bit her lip; Wesley suddenly realized that she was incredibly young. Barely out of her Maiden-hood most likely and already she was so powerful. "I do not know; death is obvious if I fail or it actually happens, the strain on your body, if the Taint is too much…there is so much I do not know."

"Do it." Wesley decided on a hunch. "Even if I do die at the end of this or the Taint isn't taken this is a possible cure of its self, I would risk much to see if it works in practice for every Mage in Fereldin."

Ari nodded and kneeled by the Templar's side, she reached for the man's wounded and broken arm first. She would heal it first so the man would get to her touch, both physical and magical, so when she probed deeper he wouldn't...panic and hurt them in his attempts to get free of the invisible touch he could feel. It took hardly anything to dip into her pool of magic, to let it rush and stream through entire body until she was humming, to let down the tight shields she kept in place to prevent herself from showing that she was a Mage.

Frowning Ari cocked her head to the side as she observed the Taint inside of the Templar, his life-force glowed a cheerful orange but the Taint looked like small little bugs crawling around inside of him, sucking the "orange" out of him until it was a dull gray-black color – lifeless. Humming under her breath Ari cast her magic like a drag-net to capture all of the Taint-bugs until they were all squirming and twisting within her grasp, she barely had to think before her magic was acting out her will. He net tightened until all the bugs were destroyed, satisfied that the infection was gone she allowed her magic to soften, to sink into the Templar's body as it thirsted for energy. Ari poured spare magic into the man's body, it would be harmless to the Templar as his body slowly recovered and processed the magic. Leaving the magic was very much like a preventive in-case she had missed any of the Taint, it would also help boast the Templar's energy and he would recover much faster this way rather than on his own.

It wasn't like losing the magic would harm Ari after all, she had more than enough to spare for this.

"Thank you," Wesley said as he flexed his formally broken arm with wonder. He could already feel a difference inside of his body, the heaviness and thirst was gone and in its place was an odd thrumming, like lightning was dancing in his veins and wondered perhaps that this was the Apostate's magic as it healed him from the damage the Taint had caused. "Thank you Serah Hawke. I…the Taint is gone as well as all of my previous injuries. I cannot thank you enough."

"Just," Ari licked her lips as she rested her folded hands on her knees from where she was sitting at the Templar's feet. "After we part our ways, please look the other way for a few days is all I ask."

"Mage Hawke," Wesley said as he gave Ari a hand up. "I will not only look the other way but also claim Aveline and I are the only ones to escape Lothering alive."

"Thank you." Ari dusted off her bottom before following after the waiting Templar. "Come, camp should be put together by this point and I am hungry enough to eat a dozen Nugs if we had them."

"There you two are," Carver said as the warrior duo approached the camp-site. "We were getting a bit worried about you."

"I had...wondered off farther than I had thought." Wesley said cutting in and sat next to his wife. "Mage Hawke decided that I was better off with two limbs than one."

"How wonderful," Aveline breathed as she felt along the previously broken-arm that had worried her so. She smiled great fully at the raven-haired Mage as she passed out the bland stew they were having that night for supper, hopefully by this time tomorrow they will be across this valley and nearing one of the main-roads. "Thank you Serah Hawke."

Ari ducked and blushed at the compliment as she took her own bowl, she was only doing what she thought was right and she didn't needed to be thanked for it. It was a simple thing to do after all, instead of a physical infection it was a magically one that really wasn't all that tough to heal. She had gotten rid of more illnesses and sickness that fought back than this one did combined. Ari would wait until it was her shift before recording what she had felt magically of what she did and hopefully other Mage's could do this as well and there wouldn't be so many dead from the Taint.

Perhaps...Ari could make several copies of what she suddenly _knew _now and have it sent to the various Circles' in Fereldin for a review. Maybe they could expand upon it or even put it into practice and earn themselves some small freedom from those Maker-damned towers. Ari shook off her fantasy-driven thoughts and turned back to her meal, she knew not many Mages were like her – had a clear moral-line and refused to cross it but her father made her promise that no matter what road in life she took Ari would always, _always_, never use her magic to harm innocents or to dip into the more forbidden arts of her kind.

And Ari hated to disappoint her beloved father even nearly a decade after his death

**O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O**

**TBC**

**O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O**


End file.
